Hobart Statesmen

Face-Off Yearbook Rank: 272013 Record/Finish: 6-8, (2-5 ECAC)

What Returns A high-scoring attack featuring the likes of seniors Alex Love (45G, 10A), Cam Stone (20, 29) and Jake McHenry (22, 3). Together, this trio's 129 total points was better than that of six of the returning groups listed in the 2014 Face-Off Yearbook top attack unit rankings.

"The thing about Alex and Cam (both elected captains) is that they are both talented individually," first-year coach Greg Raymond said. "They both produce on their own, they can score, they can pass and move off ball. They're very high in IQ, and they can get things done. What makes them dangerous is when they're playing together. Jake McHenry is a nice complement to them. He's relentless off ball and has great finishing ability. The three of them together is going to be a pretty dangerous punch. … This is their fourth year playing together. So they have this sneaky intuition and know what each other likes."

This unit is not only the engine driving the Statesmen on the field, but these are important leaders who Raymond says are working as hard as anyone on the team.

"I hope they see some of the fruits of their labor this year," Raymond said. "They've been putting in a lot of hard work."

What They'll Miss The ECAC schedule boost. With a major change coming in the form of a move to the NEC, the Statesmen see a number of tough teams swapped off the schedule for teams that project Hobart to have a significantly lower strength of schedule in 2014. The team no longer faces Denver, Ohio State, Loyola, Fairfield, Bellarmine, Air Force and Michigan, but this year adds Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, St. Joseph's, Sacred Heart and Wagner, and also adds Brown.

Traditional in-state rivals remain — Colgate, Siena, Binghamton, Canisius and two potential high-level RPI opponents in Cornell and Syracuse, which Hobart knocked off last year in the upset of the year. With their SOS rank taking a hit, and with potential top 10 teams like Denver, Ohio State and Loyola off the schedule, the Statesmen need to take care of business as a newcomer in the NEC and look for major wins against the Orange and the Big Red.

With the offense this team boasts, winning the NEC in its first year in the conference isn't out of the question.

Star Watch: Alex Love, senior, A Though sometimes left out of the discussions about the best attackmen in the land, Alex Love is certainly one of them, with first- or second-team All-America potential. He enters 2014 as a preseason Honorable Mention All-America pick and the lone Hobart player on the NEC preseason All-Conference team. Finishing third in the nation in goals per game, Love's 2014 campaign could turn out even more productive as Hobart's competition might not be quite as stiff in the NEC as it was last season in a stacked ECAC. Given his synergy with linemates Stone and McHenry, Love projects to finish his career with his best season to date.

"He's as talented a young man as I've ever coached," said Raymond, who hails from Corning, about an hour from Geneva. Raymond credited former Hobart coach TW Johnson and his staff for developing Love into the dangerous player he is.

"Alex has an ability to just make plays. He's got great hands, great vision and he gets the ball out of his stick so quickly."

Raymond praised the lacrosse IQ of Love, Stone and McHenry. If the trio can spread the ball around a bit more next season — Love shot 151 times last year, while Stone and McHenry combined for 116 shots — the offense could become more dangerous, especially with an assortment of talented midfielders on the rise.

Monster Season Potential: Tyler Vanderbeek, junior, M Tyler Vanderbeek is one of the midfielders Raymond believes could have a breakout season in 2014. A 5-foot-10, 215-pound specimen, Vanderbeek is dangerous off the dodge. He put up seven goals and seven assists last season, and Hobart coaches expect him to serve as the centerpiece of the first midfield line in 2014. He's also one of the team's five captains.

"We've got an exceptional young man in Tyler Vanderbeek," Raymond said "He's a big bruiser of a midfielder with great speed and power. He's probably one of the strongest guys on the team. He's another relentless worker. … He was voted as a captain. He's the type of guy everyone looks to and says, 'I can follow that guy.'"

Raymond expects Vanderbeek to increase his productivity, but he also has a couple of highly-skilled players who could end up on the first line in Frankie Brown (7,7) and Zach Reed (7, 3). Brown, a 6-3, right-handed Senaca, was on the Iroquois Nationals U-19 squad. Coaches are hoping he can get healthy and stay healthy after a busy and brutal year in 2013, which saw him earn MVP honors in leading the Six Nations Rebels to another Founder's Cup Junior B national championship. Reed, a former All-America attackman from nearby Bath, is the team's "chameleon" or X-factor, able to invert from midfield to attack and create matchup problems with a dynamic skillset.

If Vanderbeek can explode in 2014, these guys could blow up right alongside him. Another player to keep tabs on is Maryland transfer Brendan Saylor, who was a star in high school at Fairport outside of Rochester. He joined the team before the spring semester after putting up a goal and four assists for the Terps last season.

Rookie Ball On a new-look defense that will include the likes of seniors Peter Bolte and Connor Eustace, there are a couple new faces who could make an impact, including freshman Arik Andreen and Noel McGuiness. These young defenders impressed in the fall and have great potential, according to Raymond. They'll receive important guidance from seasoned veteran netminder Peter Zonino, who Raymond believes is one of the team's best overall players.

Outside of Zonino and the experience brought back by players like Bolte, another captain, and defensive midfielders Thomas Pettruci and Teddy Sisco, Raymond and his staff have taken the approach of starting with a clean slate, opening up the door to newcomers, including Towson transfer Aaron Maroney and true freshmen.

"We've retaught defense at Hobart, so to speak," Raymond said. "We're still figuring out who our top four defenders are going to be."

The Staff The new approach to defense is being assisted by former Princeton defender Jeremy Hirsch, who played for Raymond and joined the Hobart staff with him before the fall.

"Jeremy is a guy I recruited and coached," Raymond said. "He's been helping with the defense and with face-offs. He's a wonderful coach and has great communication and understands how to be a leader. He was a sole captain at Princeton as a senior and kind of ran our whole defense. I have as much trust in his ability to communicate what we're doing as my own. He's a smart guy who can handle five or six things at once, and handle it well."

Longtime assistant Terry Muffley, who works closely with face-offs, has stayed on with the new staff members, and according to Raymond, Muffley is a great bridge to the historical success of the program.

"He's a voice of wisdom and knows what has gone on at Hobart over the years," Raymond said. "It's definitely good to have that tradition to carry over with us."

On the other end of the field, MLL star Peet Poillon joined Raymond's staff and will serve as offensive coordinator, which should provide a boost to an already talented attack.

"It's funny," Raymond said. "You get a lot of guys who have a great talent to play lacrosse, but it's rarity to get a guy like that who can also coach. I think Peet is one of the best midfielders in the game right now, and Peet is great at getting a message across in a disciplined way and understands coaching in a fundamental way. … I'm very fortunate to have these guys together to work with. They've got energy and are anxious to get Hobart lacrosse back to where it should be."

2014 SeasonWins Prediction: 9 With a move the NEC and coming off a tough year, the Statesmen should see an improvement in their overall record. On paper, Hobart should be the favorite in conference games against Mount St. Mary's, St. Joseph's, Sacred Heart and Wagner. Out of conference, Hobart could conceivably earn victories against the likes of Siena, Canisius, Colgate and Brown, though none of these are easy outs. The big swing games are Bryant and Robert Morris, a team on the schedule since 2011. If the Statesmen can win at least one of those games, it could go a long way in getting them into the NEC tournament, which naturally puts them more in control of their destiny.

"You look at the coaching in the NEC, and it's really anyone's league," Raymond said. "They could have ranked us first or last in the preseason, and that wasn't going to change what we're doing. … To be perfectly honest, our goal is to win the conference and get that AQ. We'd love to host that tournament at Hobart and then go on to play in the tournament."

Obviously, a win against Syracuse and/or Cornell, would be another monumental achievement for Hobart. But Raymond said the approach needs to be focusing on the next game each week.

"We're going to take it one game at a time," he said. "Hopefully we can get our RPI as high as possible, maybe get a couple top-10 wins, but be focused on our league. We feel if we work hard and execute at a high-level we have a chance to win this league."

Game To Circle: March 15, vs. Robert Morris This game and the contest against Bryant, at least in the preseason, stack up as the most important for conference standing considerations. The Colonials knocked the Statesmen off in Moon Township last year 16-12, and the Statesmen have the home advantage this year. Bryant being an away game, this contest vs. Robert Morris (the preseason No. 2 team in the conference) is a huge one. Hobart will need to win one of these conference matchups.

But when it comes to tradition, Raymond — who faced Syracuse each year as an assistant with the Tigers — said there's no denying the annual battle against the Orange for the Kraus-Simmons Trophy stands out on the schedule.

"We're going to focus on the season game-by-game, but it would be silly to not mention that game (Syracuse) does mean a lot for the players, and for the coaches."